Property Grunt

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

11 years ago

Sunday, September 09, 2012

Mad Dash

Back in 2007 I wrote a piece about how brokers needed to take advantage of the wealth in China.
A Better Tomorrow
It looks like someone was reading my article
Why Brokers Study Chinese
The article profiles Kevin Brown and Nikki Field in the efforts overseas to find more buyers. They have gone as far as learning Mandarin and making trips to China to hunt for buyers.
They do have their detractors which include notable real estate figures Dolly Lenz and Janet Wang. I have to agree with them. Kevin and Nikki have the right idea but their execution is the issue.
Because of the complexities of doing business in China requires a lifetime of experience, what they should have done is hired a power broker to make introductions for them into these circles of wealth. The DIY approach is not recommended.
One could say they have been successful, according to the article out of 37 clients, 9 either closed or signed contracts for properties. With the amount time, money and effort needed to just learn the language and culture, one could argue that this was all one big sunk cost. If they had hired a power broker, they may have been able to close all 37 clients, maybe even more.
Brown and Field's strategy would have been better executed if they had actually had begun preparations at least 10 years and not when the s**t the fan. If their focus was on developing relations rather than making deals the yield would have been far more impressive.
This mad dash to China is not something that everyone wants to be a part of. The article mentions that invitations were extended to Wang to go on these trips to China which has turned down. And honestly, I would have done the same thing too because these banks and organizations will treat her like a lead generator. And why should she make money for them?
China's heyday is ending soon. For the last couple of years there has been chatter that the sleeping giant that awaken would be suffering from a major hangover. It appears that will come to pass very soon.
China, Big Slowdown Is Tied to Slow Construction